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Nov 23, 2011

Three Outrageous Ideas to Jump-Start Stalled Fiction

As most of you know, I've been participating in the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) this November. Even though I started out from what I thought was a comprehensive outline, my characters soon took on a life of their own and simply refused to do what I wanted them to.

I began writing myself into corners and getting stuck on major plot points. Luckily, one of the first rules of NaNo is that the inner editor goes into a kennel for a month. That means you're free to change-up main characters, switch from first-person to third-person narration, or even skip a scene that isn't working and move on to something else.

It also means that you can let your imagination roam free as it tries to find ways to get your plot going again. If you're novel is way off course, and the strong characters who talked you into abandoning your outline in the first place have fallen stubbornly silent, it's time to take drastic action. The suggestions below probably won't make it into your final draft, but they will get your creative juices flowing again and force docile characters to do something besides sit and ruminate.

1. Toss in a Disaster

One of the first computer games I ever played was SimCity. During my learning curve, I enjoyed creating Utopian societies with low taxes and plenty of schools and libraries. Once I learned how to get my city off to a smooth start, however, I found that perfect towns are blindingly dull.

So, one day I unleashed a tornado on my city. Half of the town was destroyed, and the game suddenly got very interesting as I struggled to rebuild and keep my once-thriving community from turning into a ghost town.

Similarly, characters under a huge amount of external or internal stress are far more interesting than characters who have everything they want and need, so do your worst. Throw them in the path of a tidal wave, a volcano, an earthquake, or a terrorist attack, and see what they do next.

2. Kill a Character

Choose a victim by flipping a coin, throwing a dart, or closing your eyes and pointing your finger to a random name on your list of main characters. The death of one character will force all of your other characters to react, if only to pick up the slack or to save their own skins.

Uh-oh. Did the hand of fate fall on your main character? Not a problem. Look at how the movie Psycho took off after the protagonist was dispatched in that nightmare-inducing shower scene.

3. Drop Your Protagonist into Another Setting

This exercise is especially helpful if you're having trouble getting a handle on your main character. It's okay to have fun and go a little crazy. If you're writing a Western, for instance, take your tough-as-nails sheriff and drop him into a chick lit novel, a Regency romance, or a post-apocalyptic world controlled by zombies.

When your protagonist's entire world shifts so drastically, he or she is forced to take some kind of character-revealing action. Take these hidden traits and run with them. They're the fictional equivalent of striking gold.

On the other hand, don't be too discouraged if your protagonist remains dull and predictable in the strange new world you've created.

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Hilary Mantel: Wolf HallAn amazing tale of Tudor England. I would give this book more than five stars if I could. (*****)

Nancy Rae: A MATTER OF TIMEI REALLY wanted to like this book, but in the end it just didn't work for me. The main character remains a victim of fate from start to finish - I never had the sense that he was taking control of his own destiny. (**)